Tampa Bay area's median home price is back to what it was in December 2004, but those discounts helped keep home sales from falling in August.

Home sales in Pinellas, Pasco, Hillsborough and Hernando totaled 2,154 in August, no change from sales in August 2007, according to the Florida Association of Realtors.

This marked the fourth straight month that local sales were flat, fell slightly or rose slightly, suggesting that the market has flattened.

Low prices have been dealmakers in many cases. Tampa's median home price stood at $171,200 in August, 20 percent below the $214,100 median price in August 2007. Realtors say discounted foreclosure sales have helped drive much of the traffic.

“Sales have picked up significantly in several Florida and California markets,” says National Association of Realtors chief economist Lawrence Yun.

In Florida as a whole, sales were down 4 percent in August versus a year earlier. Sales were way up year over year in Fort Myers, Fort Lauderdale and Fort Pierce. Among the sales losers were Panama City (down 29 percent), Pensacola (down 31 percent) and Tallahassee (down 42 percent).

Here's a full Florida chart: Download august08.pdf

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